Many people would respond to the above question by saying yes.
But in reality, this is a misconception that many people have. The thought that all of salsa's roots are
in Cuba is a myth. Cuba undeniably has a lot to do with the origins of salsa, but it is not the
only contributor to this music. Salsa in itself is not a one particular musical
form. Salsa is a term originally used to describe a blend of Afro-Caribbean rhythms. For
example, back in the late 60's and early 70's when the term salsa began to take its form; the
orchestras that where labeled salsa bands played a variety of rhythms such as son/montuno, jazz, samba, bomba, plena,
bolero, guaguanco, oriza, merengue, cumbia, mozambique, aguinaldos, and the list goes on. Where did the blending of all these rhythms take place? It took place during the late 60's and early 70's in New York city. Thus salsa was born in New York but its roots and origins are in Africa. Eventhough Cubans, Dominicans, African and Jewish Americans and many others contributed grately to this music; the group which stood out the most in pioneering this movement called salsa was the Puerto Ricans. This page
is dedicated to help present the influences Puerto Rico has had on salsa.
I myself am still learning about this great music and if anyone desires to contribute
to the information found here or has any opinions or feels that I may have made a false statement, please
feel free to let me know by signing my guestbook or sending me an email.
Well, it's been a very long time since I've updated this website; and a lot of things have happened since then. I've hosted many shows on a local college radio station at Cleveland State University since 2001 till present. Although I haven't had my own time slot, I've filled in for many DJ's here at the station by hosting 2 to 4hr classic salsa shows at least once or twice a month by myself originally and now for the past 2yrs with my co-host Juan Carrion, better known as Mr. Guaguanco. Now you can listen to my archived shows by clicking on this link Al Son de Salsa or going to www.shoutcast.com, entering salsa in the search category and going to the one titled "Salsa underground desde Cleveland! W.C.S.B. 89.3FM". You will need Winamp to listen to the live stream. You will notice how some of the early recordings show how inexperienced I was (mainly due to the fact that I never really listened to spanish radio before) and how I have evolved through time and how my cd and vinyl collection has grown in the past years. Let me know if you have any problems listening to the show and any feedbacks via email are most certainly appreciated and if you like the show and are interested in obtaining cd's of the show, let me know. Also, feel free to hit me up on AIM Rck86 or Conguerorumbero@hotmail.com on MSN Messenger.
*****UPDATE: My radio broadcast was down for some time and it is now up and running - 01/03/2005
The picture above is from when I used to DJ at this club called Touch Supper Club here in Cleveland. I would like to give a big thanks to the hardest Salsa DJ here in Cleveland: Mazi. Although this club only lasted a few years, it was the slickest spot to experience the rarest, hardest and most classic Salsa being spun by DJ Mazi. Mazi started Salsaturation and Salsa Pa' Ti where he would spin nothin but the original vinyl records from the best era of Salsa Dura (60's and 70's); from labels that produced the best Salsa such as Alegre, Cotique, Fania, Inca, Areito, Vaya and so on. And although some people may have tripped out at first since Mazi is African-american; like he always says: "Salsa is black music!". We both agree that when you find a Salsa record with Black people rockin the Afros on the cover; It's gotta be a hard Salsa album. Again, big ups to Mazi cause Touch is where I got my first opportunity to DJ and where I was first turned on to vinyl collecting. Special thanks to Anne Su from www.ClevelandSalsa.com for taking the picture.
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